2026 Agenda

• Set the commercial risk position before drafting starts
• Know which clauses carry the most commercial weight under pressure: price variation, force majeure, liability caps, termination, step-in rights
• Spot weak or ambiguous drafting before signature
• Negotiate commercial terms directly with suppliers without ceding ground or burning the relationship
• Lead variations and avoid disputes from a position of commercial control, not legal dependency

Most teams plateau after a few good prompts. They get useful outputs, then find themselves spending more time correcting AI than creating with it. The leap from dabbling to daily default is not more tools. It is a mastery mindset and repeatable workflows that show real ROI.

This hands-on masterclass shows you how to build powerful AI workflows inside the tools you already have: Copilot, Claude, ChatGPT or Gemini. Workflows that earn their place supporting your team across sourcing, supplier management, market analysis, risk assessment, stakeholder engagement and the human decisions that sit on top of it all.

Using AI well is not the goal. Getting AI to free you for your zone of genius is. Used well, these tools save your team hours, sharpen insight and lift procurement outcomes. More importantly, they give you back the energy to do what you do best. All with governance and human oversight at the core, not bolted on at the end.

We will also clear up shadow AI: why understanding what these tools can really do, and giving your people the paid versions, is the simplest way to reduce risk and lift output at the same time. Walk out with an AI blueprint you can apply the very next day, whichever platform your organisation chooses.

• Why procurement has become central to enterprise performance, resilience and trust
• How AI is changing the decisions leaders make, the evidence they rely on and the accountability they carry
• Moving from buying power to decision power by making complex trade-offs visible
• Strengthening supplier relationships when cost pressure, risk and uncertainty collide
• Building the influence, judgement and commercial confidence needed to lead at the executive table

• Reading the room and adapting your communication style
• Understanding how different stakeholders consume information and make decisions
• Communicating risk without creating fear or resistance
• Influencing across teams, suppliers and leadership
• Turning conversations into decisions and outcomes

• How women leaders are reshaping negotiation through influence, collaboration and commercial confidence
• Taking negotiation skills beyond supplier conversations
• Creating outcomes people support, not simply accept
• Getting a win-win outcome for businesses

• When a supplier asks for more and your contract says no, what does a mature procurement response  look like?
• Where does partnership end and commercial naivety begin?
• What uncontrollable cost events does procurement have a legal obligation to absorb, and is your team across that?

• Which reasons are legitimate versus which are workarounds
• The real cost of bypass: compliance risk, lost leverage, lost data and lost relationships with suppliers
• Governance versus speed: how to protect probity and public value without procurement becoming the blocker stakeholders route around
• Repairing the relationship

• What needs to happen before AI can create value? 
• How do you build the right data, processes and governance to support AI? 
• Can AI transform procurement, or does it simply enhance what is already there? 
• How do we open this market to SMEs and innovators while protecting continuity?
• What lessons can be learned from large-scale procurement transformation programs?
• What are the environmental and social impacts of the digital transformation behind the solution? 
• How do procurement leaders bring stakeholders, suppliers and teams on the transformation journey?

• what "good" procurement capability looks like across the APS
• building commercial capability into the wider agency
• upskilling procurement professionals for a broader, more strategic mandate, not just compliance and process

• Moving from "supplier diversity as compliance" to genuine, mindful, embedded partnership: reframing the conversation and what it means to deliver impact
• What First Nations businesses model for ESG more broadly: relationships and accountability over reporting and targets
• The commercial case for First Nations procurement: value created for the business and for community
• What "co-design" and shared decision-making look like in a supplier relationship, in practice
• Lessons for the future of supplier partnerships: legacy and long-term value over transactional sourcing
  
  

• How government and industry can practically identify, verify and engage diverse suppliers, using the WOBA certification model as a working example
• The business case for supplier diversity and market development
• Lessons learned from building Australia's first women-owned business certification and supplier database, including what worked, what didn't, and what surprised the team
• Where procurement teams have real opportunities to increase supplier diversity participation while expanding value for money and competitive tension

• Beyond the scorecard - looking beyond performance metrics, what regulators expect organisations to know about their suppliers and how to build resilience (financial distress indicators, cyber incidents, operational and governance red flags, key person dependency, subcontractor concentration
• Geography exposure - who to map single points of failure across your supply base, from sole-source to geographic clustering
• Relationship Intelligence - what Category Managers, Contract Managers and Operational teams already know that never makes it onto a risk register (and how to surface it)
• Tiering that means something - moving beyond spend-based supplier classification to criticality, a practical framework for identifying risk suppliers
• When to act, not just monitor -  the difference between a supplier on a watch list and a intervention, what proportionate action looks like
  
  

• Cases involving modern slavery, labour exploitation and supply chain misconduct
• The warning signs organisations missed
• How allegations are investigated and who is held accountable
• Procurement's role in vetting, contracting and managing supplier risk
• Lessons procurement leaders can apply to identify, escalate and manage supplier risks
• Using AI to examine MSA reports

• Building visibility and influence beyond procurement
• Developing commercial credibility with senior stakeholders
• Navigating career transitions and leadership opportunities
• The skills, behaviours and mindset required at executive level
• Practical tools for assessing your leadership gaps and preparing for your next career move

• Promotion
• Scope
• Pay
• Visibility

• What it really takes to transform procurement across a large and complex organisation
• Leading change, process, people and building the capability to keep improving
• How procurement leaders can drive and sustain organisational change
• How to architect procurement processes that are streamlined, value-generating, and centred on the needs of internal stakeholders and external clients alike
• Creating the conditions for continuous improvement
• Turning teams into active contributors to process innovation and improvement

Returning from maternity leave is one of the most significant transitions in a professional career. From shifting priorities and rebuilding confidence to balancing flexibility, ambition and career progression, this session explores practical strategies for navigating the return to work while continuing to grow as a leader. 

For many women, the years of greatest career growth coincide with significant hormonal change - yet menopause remains one of the least discussed topics in professional life. Drawing on her experience co-leading the initiative that made Deloitte the first accredited Menopause Friendly employer in Australia, Karen Stein leads a conversation that separates myth from fact, exploring how women can better understand, manage and navigate menopause while continuing to thrive professionally and personally.

Roundtable A 
Four stakeholders, four priorities: what would you do?

Roundtable B
You're in the lift with your CEO. You have 30 seconds to explain the value procurement creates for the organisation and promote your own brand. What do you say?

Roundtable C
Turning teams into active contributors to process innovation and improvement